My name is Mei Qin Chen. I am from Fukian, China. I speak Mandarin and Fukianese. I have been here for about 8 years.

I came to the United States before 911. I have been married for about 4 years. When I arrived at America, I was still single. I had no money, no friends, and no home. I had a hard time trying to survive in this country. That was the darkest time in my life. This is a totally new country to me. I didn’t understand what people said to me in English. But I needed to make money to repay the money I owed for coming to America. But every job required English. Because I couldn’t speak much English, I didn’t have many choices. So I was very eager to learn English. Every night I read English books, listened to the CD to learn English. I have worked in many different places since I came to America.

I was lucky to have a nice boss, who supported me in studying English. So I worked hard to repay his kindness. Although life was hard and I worked in different places, I still felt happy because I could earn my own living.

But that kind of life is over. Now I am married and have a family. Family is everything to me. My life is very simple. I divide my time between my son, my husband, and parents-in-law. My parents-in-law live with us. It is hard to get along with parents-in-laws when you live together in a small apartment. I am not very close to my parents-in-law. We don’t have much to talk about with them. My mother-in-law wants me to go outside to work, earn my living and help my husband support my family. Even now they still insist on this. Now my son is going to school. My life is better and easier, not as stressed as before, but more relaxing.

In my life, I really appreciated two persons, the first is my husband who has given me a wonderful life. The second is my English teacher who teaches me a lot, not only English, but also many other things about America, its law, government, culture, etc. which make it easier for me to adjust to and understand the life in the USA.

I am glad that I came to America. Although the economy is bad, I believe things will get better. I will work harder at my English so that I can get a nice job and help my husband support my family. I will make sure our children will live a better life than us. This is my goal for the future.